Government Financial Assistance

Overview of programs announced this week

The Réseau has been following the press briefings of Prime Ministers Trudeau and Legault throughout the week. A number of funding announcements have been made to assist citizens who are experiencing hardship due to the impact of COVID-19. We noted that several members asked questions on the Facebook group or contacted us directly about programs that apply to them. The following is a non-exhaustive list of financial assistance announced by our governments.

Please note that the program that may apply to the largest number of our members is the federal government's Emergency Support Benefit.

Gouvernement du Québec

Temporary Aid for Workers Program
Financial support program for people who must be isolated to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus and who are not covered by other government program. This program applies only if you have just returned from a trip abroad, if you have contracted the virus or are showing symptoms, or if you have been in contact with an infected person.

Financial assistance for businesses
The Government is launching the Programme d’action concertée temporaire pour les entreprises (PACTE), an emergency assistance measure to help businesses that will be affected by the impacts of COVID-19. This $2.5-billion program is a financial measure of at least $50,000 in the form of a loan guarantee.

Taxes
The deadline for filing and transmitting the tax return is extended to June 1, 2020. For individuals and individuals in business, the deadline for paying any balance owing on the 2019 tax return is extended to August 31.

Government of Canada

The Government of Canada announced on March 18 an economic response plan to address COVID-19. Here are some measures that may help you. However, we invite you to check all the special measures in this plan to see if other assistance applies to you.

Emergency care benefit
You can receive an allowance of $900 every 2 weeks for a maximum of 15 weeks if you have to isolate yourself, if you have contracted the virus or if you have to care for someone with COVID-19 and you are not eligible for another financial assistance program.

Emergency Support Benefit
Self-employed workers who lose their jobs or have their hours of work reduced as a result of measures taken to counter the spread of COVID-19 and who are not eligible for EI could receive an allowance of up to 14 weeks. Details are to be worked out on the program that should be in place for the month of April. The program will be made available to workers through the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency). We will add the link to the information when it becomes available.

GST credit
For low- and modest-income families, assistance will be provided through the goods and services tax (GST) credit, which will be doubled.

Support to businesses
The government has also put in place measures to support businesses. We invite you to consult the information to see if this applies to your massage therapy business.

Taxes
The deadline for filing income tax returns will be extended to June 1, 2020, and the payment of income tax amounts that become due on or after today and before September 2020 will be extended beyond July 31, 2020.

Mortgages

Note that several financial institutions (article in French only) have decided to defer the payment of their clients’ mortgages. We invite you to check directly with your financial institution.

A word from the Réseau

The Réseau team is here for you

We remind you that the Réseau has closed its offices until March 30 in order to ensure the safety of its work team and its members. The employees are still available to telework during business hours, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., to answer your questions and ensure the continuation of the association's services.

We will keep an eye on developments over the weekend so that we can inform you as soon as we return to the office Monday morning.

Thank you for your confidence in the Réseau des massothérapeutes professionnels du Québec. The whole team thanks you for your kind words.